Grey.....is this hobby were a color it would be grey.
There is no absolute answer for what is happening, no black and white solution. I just returned to this board after taking a break for close to a year. I am encouraged by what's being done for the betterment of the hobby, but we need to remember that there isn't a clearcut answer to this whole thing.
I'm not quite sure what the original point of this whole thing is (I've perused Mary's board, and while the intention seems good, could not figure out what that actual intention was, i.e. just a collection of information, send to some official somewhere, etc.) but I gather that we are all hoping to "make a difference" somehow but putting together a list and then somehow discouraging the collection and keeping of those species.
I would love nothing more than a huge dose of responsibilty and awareness to be dumped on this industry, as well as many of the hobbyists. Just the other week a local LFS sold a blue-ringed octopus, fully aware that some of them are deadly. Was he positive that this one wasn't? Of course not. Then why would he have it in his shop? Because he sold it within 24 hours of it hitting his tanks. There is always that one hobbyist who has the cash (and the ego) to keep that one thing that no one else has. But it has never entered his mind why no one else is keeping this thing...
Anyway, enough ranting. Back to my point. Many species should not be kept. BUT we need to remember that much of what we keep today was thought impossible just 30 years ago. This hobby has come a long way in just the last few decades. We would not be able to have the successful captive reefs we do today had it not been for some pioneer chancing it on that one hard-to-keep specimen. As we kept, we studied. As we studied, we learned. An example? Anemones
These things live obscenely long lives in the ocean, but put them in a captive system and their lifespan is but a drop in the bucket to what they would experience on the reef. Granted, uneducated and inexperienced hobbyists should not start out with the obligatory anemone/clown hookup, but does that mean we should ban the collection and keeping of all anemones? I don't think so. It has been common dogma that we need intense light to keep these things alive, and obviously we can't re-create the proper intesity of light since they always seem to die. But some people have realized not every anemone fits into the same mold...and while most people were attacking the bait, others looked at other reasons as to why anemones do poorly. It is now becoming common knowledge that they need to be FED. There are other factors that contribute to a success in keeping an anemone, but it is by keeping them that we learn. Once we learn, and get a handle on it, then sustainable catpive-reared stock can be introduced into the hobby.
So what's the verdict? I don't have one, because I don't think there is a solid one. If I see something for sale at an LFS that I know shouldn't be sold or kept, I pass it buy--I DON'T BUY IT THINKING THAT I CAN DO A BETTER JOB KEEPING IT THAN SOME SCHMO WHO IS "LESS INFORMED" AND THEREBY SAVE THE SPECIMEN FROM SURE ANNHILATION IN SOMEONE ELSE'S TANK. We as hobbyists need to start setting an example for the industry and stop pointing the finger at the big bad wholesaler and distributor. Educate those people new to the hobby. Teach them what should and shouldn't be kept. Encourage them to be responsible. Make a difference when you can. I think you people are on the right track, and by gaining the voice of distinguished people in the field I think there is a good chance this information will spread and be heard by a greater audience, and hopefully be taken to heart.
